Identical Female Twins Become Sister and Brother

I thought the above article was pretty interesting. In one of the Presidential Debates, a question was asked, " Do you believe people are born gay". Bush said, "I don't know...", which I think is an honest answer. Kerry's answer was so 'non-commital' I don't know WHAT his position is, although he is against gay marriage.

I guess you have to copy it and paste it into address or go to Google News and put in "identical female twins." Copy the address and posting it here doesn't seem to work.

Transgender Twin Offers New Insight

Identical Female Twins Become Sister and Brother

Oct. 23, 2004 ? - While many people would assume that identical twins are exactly alike, Liana and Juan Barbachano are showing the world that in some cases, they couldn't be more different.

Juan Barbachano was actually born as Juanita. She and Liana were like two peas in a pod until Juanita began to realize that she and her twin sister felt very differently about themselves. When the two played house, Juanita always wanted to be the daddy, never the mommy. And when Juanita went to bed on Christmas Eve, she wished Santa would help her wake up as a boy.

"I was afraid that if anybody knew that I was really a guy, that no one would have anything to do with me, so I kept that to myself," Juan said.

While Liana felt like a normal girl, Juanita felt as if she was a boy trapped inside of a girl's body

At age 4, Juanita chopped off her long hair and wore pants as much as she could. In high school, she joined the football team and asked her teammates to call her "Juan."

Juanita wouldn't be granted her Christmas wish to fully become a boy until many years later.

Now 35, Juan, formerly Juanita, says life has improved with hormone therapy and surgery, and with the support of a loving sister.

"I'd been told that, you know, God doesn't want me to do this. Something's wrong with me, I'm sick. But then I came to realize that God made me the way I am and he loves me just the way I am," Juan said on ABC News' "Good Morning America." "I never expected to receive the support and love I have received from Liana.

Liana, now married with eight children, says she accepts Juan for who he is and is happy with their relationship. "You love who the person is and you support them as a person," she said.

Juan's experience is more perplexing than those of most transgender individuals because he is an identical twin.

"From what Juan and Liana tell us, genes do not predict identical behaviors," she said.

Doctors think that something happened in the womb that made the twins different.

"We expect that Juan was exposed to higher levels of testosterone and male hormone, which might have redirected her brain somewhat, making her feel like a man. This did not happen to her sister, who grew up as a full female," Segal said.

Segal, author of "Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us About Human Behavior," says scientists are beginning to look at what happens to identical twins within the womb to explain similarities and differences that surface later in life.

"The womb is a very different experience for identical twins, and in some ways it's surprising that identical twins are as alike as they are," Segal said. "Gender is a complicated behavior affected by many things. Even with identical twins, who are so alike in many ways, as Juan and Liana are, there still can be profound differences between them." After a long struggle, Juan's parents have come to terms with his gender and have decided to look beyond that one aspect of his life.

"When you look at a person in-depth, you're looking at a person, a being, not simply a man or a woman," said Juan's father, Joaquin Barbachano. "Love can move anything, anytime, anywhere, as long as you have it to give, it's very powerful."

You're right. Well, I went back another way and just copied it...sorry !

ABC NEWS

Oct. 23, 2004 ? While many people would assume that identical twins are exactly alike, Liana and Juan Barbachano are showing the world that in some cases, they couldn't be more different.

Transgender Twin Offers New Insight Juan Barbachano was actually born as Juanita. She and Liana were like two peas in a pod until Juanita began to realize that she and her twin sister felt very differently about themselves. When the two played house, Juanita always wanted to be the daddy, never the mommy. And when Juanita went to bed on Christmas Eve, she wished Santa would help her wake up as a boy.

"I was afraid that if anybody knew that I was really a guy, that no one would have anything to do with me, so I kept that to myself," Juan said. While Liana felt like a normal girl, Juanita felt as if she was a boy trapped inside of a girl's body.At age 4, Juanita chopped off her long hair and wore pants as much as she could. In high school, she joined the football team and asked her teammates to call her "Juan."

Juanita wouldn't be granted her Christmas wish to fully become a boy until many years later. Now 35, Juan, formerly Juanita, says life has improved with hormone therapy and surgery, and with the support of a loving sister. "I'd been told that, you know, God doesn't want me to do this. Something's wrong with me, I'm sick. But then I came to realize that God made me the way I am and he loves me just the way I am," Juan said on ABC News' "Good Morning America." "I never expected to receive the support and love I have received from Liana.

Liana, now married with eight children, says she accepts Juan for who he is and is happy with their relationship. "You love who the person is and you support them as a person," she said. Juan's experience is more perplexing than those of most transgender individuals because he is an identical twin.

Doctors think that something happened in the womb that made the twins different. "We expect that Juan was exposed to higher levels of testosterone and male hormone, which might have redirected her brain somewhat, making her feel like a man. This did not happen to her sister, who grew up as a full female," Segal said.

Segal, author of "Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us About Human Behavior," says scientists are beginning to look at what happens to identical twins within the womb to explain similarities and differences that surface later in life.

"The womb is a very different experience for identical twins, and in some ways it's surprising that identical twins are as alike as they are," Segal said. "Gender is a complicated behavior affected by many things. Even with identical twins, who are so alike in many ways, as Juan and Liana are, there still can be profound differences between them."

After a long struggle, Juan's parents have come to terms with his gender and have decided to look beyond that one aspect of his life. "When you look at a person in-depth, you're looking at a person, a being, not simply a man or a woman," said Juan's father, Joaquin Barbachano. "Love can move anything, anytime, anywhere, as long as you have it to give, it's very powerful."

Interesting story. The concept of a person being transgendered is facinating. That being said, I could think of no better curse. Having a woman'e body, but being a 'man' is ever other sense. Nature can be cruel.

I can remember a "woman" who was a transsexual but had not had the operation yet. She was studying with a sister who insisted this woman wear a dress. She wore slacks all the time (some women do that anyway). The elders were wary of her and told people she was mentally deranged. I don't understand why she kept coming. I think she thought she would find some peace with her situation through God. The sister would not sit with her at the meetings so I invited her to sit with us.

She could tell I was not like the others, telling her to wear a dress and afraid of being near her. She kept asking why did God make her this way and that it was not all in her mind.

I finally got her in touch with a counselor in this area and suggested she talk with him and told her that the KH was not the way. So she stopped studying and attending. The sister and the elders breathed a sigh of relief though not knowing what I had done.

I once had a dream that I woke up in a man's body. I had no idea how to act; people were uncomfortable with me. I didn't know how to relate to my husband, my workmates, my neighbors. Imagine if that happened to you. Then we might understand what these people are going through.

JWs like everyone fixed already. Drug addicts that are clean. Alcoholics that are sober. The mentally ill properly medicated. People have have their sexual orientations already "normal." No street people need apply. Heavens, and no one with HIV/AIDS.

I was talking about this with a strong Baptist older woman, who said she "...just could not accept their (gay) lifestyle, because God just would NOT have made this way! She did feel sympathy for them in what they have to go thru in society.

I tried to explain that babies are born with all kinds of ailments and defects...does this mean God actually had a hand in 'creating' them that way? That really confused her. I told her I did not know if God intended for people to be other than heterosexual, but, it certainly seems the evidence is there to say they come by it naturally and should be accepted. She could not go that far.

Her Bible clearly "... condemns their behavior". Even tho' he creates them ! Then she did not want to talk anymore !

I saw a documentary once about transgendered people and one of the stories was of a girl who thought she was 100% female until a school science experiment of looking at cheek swabs under microscope showed hers to be XY - she called the teacher over thinking she'd set the equipment up wrong and repeated the experiment and the teacher told her to speak to her doctor.